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Description

This comprehensive text highlights new developments in sociological, educational and psychological aspects of socialisation, examining how human beings as 'subjects' – experiencing, thinking and acting individuals – confront the material, social and cultural 'objects' of their environment and sustain their position. The authors provide an overview of the most important theories of socialisation, then integrate these using the Productive Processing of Reality (PPR) model. This novel approach is applied to a life course analysis, examining developmental tasks and the challenges of productive processing of the internal and external reality at various stages of development. The book also considers contexts, addressing the inequalities between different socio-economic and ethnic groups and genders, to consider how humans – with their genetic dispositions and their individual instincts and needs – solve the task of coping with the requirements of society, culture and economy while at the same time safeguarding their status as unique individuals.

It is core reading for advanced students on socialisation modules in developmental or social psychology and educational sciences and is additionally of value for the professional training of sociologists, teachers and social workers. It is also relevant for all those interested in elementary questions of how the interaction between the society and the individual works; how human beings deal not only with themselves but also with their social and physical environment, and how they shape it in their own way.

Reviews

"Socialisation seems like such a simple topic at first glance, but, as this book illustrates so well, the interactions between person and environment that constitute socialisation are incredibly complex. Hurrelmann and Bauer distill all of this complexity in an artfully accessible way that speaks to both psychology and sociology." – Robert Crosnoe, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

"The authors’ key concept of ‘Productive Processing of Reality’ is much more than a catchy formula: it integrates approaches and findings from several disciplines, addressing many questions of how individuals master tensions between social integration and individuation. The book’s highly readable style will be a discovery for many readers." - Doris Bühler-Niederberger, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany

Table of Contents

About the authors 1. The understanding of socialisation 2. Socialisation as productive processing of reality 3. Coping with developmental tasks 4. Productive processing of reality during the life course 5. Socialisation in the individual life stages 6. Contexts of socialisation in the life course 7. Inequality of socialisation during the life course 8. Conclusion and outlook Bibliography Index

About the Authors

Klaus Hurrelmann is Senior Professor of Public Health and Education at Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. He previously served as Professor of Socialisation at Bielefeld University in Germany.

Ullrich Bauer is Professor of Socialisation Research at the Faculty of Educational Science and Head of the Center for Prevention in Childhood and Adolescence at Bielefeld University in Germany.